Bob Hayes

Giving it away for free is it a great gift for someone. Give it to the right person. If you are going to do it why not work for a Spielberg instead of a moron like this. I have worked for free many times and it has worked out great. Met terrific people and learned a lot. The one power that working for free gives you is that you can walk away and it doesn?t cost you a dime. The arrogance of people that would try to turn crewing on a film into indentured slavery is appalling. Also sleaze balls are always saying ?You?ll work on our next big picture?, ?We?ll give you real money on the next job?, ?We are building a family?, and ?We?re planning on making many films?. They are all bullshit. These guys are conmen pure and simple. I was producing a film and I told the key grip if it went well he would probably get a job on our next film. With out loosing a beat he said. ?What the **(obscenity removed)** makes you think I?ll want to work on your next film?. I couldn?t stop laughing.

This sounds like a pretty complicated system. But Paul might be on to something regarding doing two exposure passes. I read an article about enhancing digital photography. The photographer shot a scene with a late afternoon sky that was very bright. There was no way to get exposure in the sky, even with grads. So he shot two exposures, one for the sky and one for the foreground. There is a cool program that lets you combine these two exposures in one photo and be very selective as to what you use from each. The look was magical.

I'd think about using black lights and glow in the dark paint. Use a very light ball and hang it from a thin black thread. If you add a light fog filter you might be able to get some pretty good glow out of it.

In the early days these amazing artists would go to the shooting location set up a camera. Lens and a Giant sheet of glass. Then they would paint the added element. When they were done the film unit would show up, add the cast, and shoot. As cameras got more sophisticated they started doing double exposures and shooting the mattes later.

I would add a flex fill, white on one side silver on the other. It is small light and compact. Will add the fill and or key you need. Also fits in a back back.

Definitely back lighting your interviews will make them look more film like. I am also a big fan of using a light diffusion over the talent when they are in harsh sun. My current favorite is the Westscott Illuminator 1 stop diffusion. It is 3?x4? and works like a light silk. It folds up to the size and weight of a flex fill. It is small enough to hand hold and can easily cover one talent. Often when shooting nature docs you want to frame your shot for the best view not necessarily the best light. It also takes the curse off of people staring into the sun. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/6276...4_One_Stop.html

I think Peter a very good cameraman and a very good director. I feel when he works as a Director/Cameraman is camerawork tends to be very safe. Too safe.

Soft air makes some gas power soft pellet guns where the slide actually moves. This could add authenticity to your safe gun play. Don't forget to cgi in an ejjecting shell. One frame slight motion blur.

You will probably be travelling too light to carry even the lightest of Steadicam devices. Make sure you get a splash bag for you camera. One that is good to six feet.

Yes the light level at a real life wedding is one of the most challenging video situations. Day exterior the cameraman looks like Roger Deakins. Night interior the photography collapses. One of my complaints with the sun gun style of photography is that it is generally way too bright and it destroys the mood of the event. Also it tends to blind all the people at the wedding making the videographer pretty unpopular. If you work with an assistant you might want to rig a small china ball on a small pole with a 12volt light inside. This would create a gentle and very complimentary light. Also you and your assistant would look pretty cool at the party. If you are alone you might want to buy a small Chimera for your sun gun and put it on a flex arm about 18? above your camera. Also I would really experiment with the minimum exposure you need for your photography to look good. A little grain is better if it lets you maintain the mood. Definitely shoot with out the shutter on. This will give you a stop of exposure. Also you may want to shoot some slow shutter footage instead of a 24th of a second go for a 12th of a second. It can really capture some of the excitement. Another solution is to get a Lowell Tota light and bounce it off the ceiling. This will give a soft over all top light and illuminate a huge area and is pretty good for dance floor. Peoples eyes will adjust to it and some of the older folks will probably appreciate the added light. Besure to tape down all loose cables so people don't trip. Keep the light off to the side.

I believe the lighting was 1 4 K Par and 2 x 2.5 K Pars. I?ve placed an 8x8 Highlight over the talent. There is an 8 x 8 solid over the windows to kill reflections. And there is a generator on the Camera Car. Sometimes I will shoot this kind of stuff with a stake bed, 5500 crystal sync generator, but that really limits me to two 1.2 HMI pars.

Bill: I am member of the Television Academy Cinematography Peer group. How can I help you.

I would thin china balls would be the way to go. Depending on the ceiling you might find some features to attatch them to.

Well there are a couple of ways to skin a cat. Here is an example of the big trailer meathed.

I don?t know the characteristics of the Manfroto overheads so I can?t comment on how strong they will be. The lighter the frame the easier it is to move around but the less resilient it will be to wind. I have a very light weight 6? x 6? round tube steel frame and a medium weight 8? x 8? square tube aluminum frame. The strength is determined by the thickness of the walls of the tube. I bought the hardware from Modern and went to Industrial Metal, a metal store, for the frame stock. My grip electric package is small enough to load in my SUV. If I need more gear I also need more crew and rent a grip truck. Since you mentioned 20 x 20 it sounds like you are talking large crew and a lot of resources at your disposal. In addition to a bunch of sand bags you will need two to four high hi combo stands. Over heads are extremely dangerous and wind can come from anywhere. It is a big sail. You need to make sure that it is securely tied down in addition to stands and bags. An iron stake driven into the ground gives a good pick point. A tree is another possible tie off. A sandbag cart with a mess of sand bags and the break on will also work.

I am thinking of buying a Letus. I have a couple of questions. Can I use it on different cameras? Like a HVX 200 and a Z1U. Are there adapters for each camera? Is there a resolution loss using the Letus? What is the stop loss?

A great way to survive the beach is to get a six wheeled ATV with a small trailer. You want to get one that is a chain drive not belt drive if you can. Load your gear onto the ATV and you are good to go. Keeps the gear out of the sand and lets you move anywhere really fast. Get yourself a small pop up to cover your gear and keep it dry if you have rain. We use ice chests to keep the film dry and cool. Get space blankets and make them into bags to keep the sand and sun off the cameras. I try to keep a white towel over the cameras to keep them cool. Make sure you have a sellection of shoes to work in. High top sneakers work great in the soft sand. Be ready to switch to reef walker shoes for reef and water work. Keep them with you so you can effortlessly make the switch.

I believe the advent of digital projection is going to change the theatrical situation. Before digital all trailers and commercials had to be on 35mm. This means only big companies like Coke could afford 35mm prints. Now you are going to see more local ads which mean more revenue for the theaters. Also because more theaters have digital projection smaller independent films can get theatrical releases with out having to absorb the cost of making a 35mm print.

Thomas Callaway is an excellent DP who also directs. He did a great job Directing, writing and shooting ?Broke Sky?, an off beat thriller that came out last year.

I think it will be a problem if you are shooting HMI?s. I was shooting with a VariCam at 24P with flicker free HMI?s and a crystal sync generator. It was running sync but it had an older sync system that had enough fluxuation to cause flicker. I changed the shutter angle to 240 degree and it solved the flicker until I got a new plant.

I think I would go for the up on the hill and back light the pack. Then I would shoot toward the trees and keep the hill out as much as possible. It will be easier to get the lights where you want them on the hill.

Crank has a lot of really hip and edgy running sequences.

My wife and I loved it. But I am a sucker for the tropical island scuba diving treasure film. I thought was well shot with really believable underwater work. Funny how there was no credit for an underwater crew.

The Rifa?s unique design offers a rigid soft source at minimal weight. Only the relatively fragile and difficult China ball comes close. I own a Rifa and use it on light weight menace arms.

Zac: Welcome aboard.